Canada Roll Past the Dominican Republic with a 88-71 Victory

The SMNT’s first game back in action results in a resounding 88-71 victory over the Dominican Republic.

Mfiondu Kabengele led the way in his long-awaited SMNT debut. And he was every bit as dominant as I expected, as he asserted and established himself as the best player on the floor right from the opening tip. 17 points on 7/11 shooting from the floor, 7 rebounds to go along 2 blocks and 1 steal.

Against a smaller Dominican Republic front court, which only sported 3 players above 6’8″, Kabengele had his way finishing in the paint, whether it was going strong to the rim after catching it on the roll or stopping a couple feet early and throwing up a push shot. And his offensive impact didn’t stop there as he tirelessly tapped out offensive rebounds (he was only credited for three, but that undersells his effort tonight) to give the Canadian offense multiple extra possessions. When’s the last time we’ve seen Canada’s C bludgeoning opposing teams on the interior and wearing defenders down with their physicality?

The surprise invitation [to the Paris Olympic training camp] hopefully establishes a strong relationship between Canada Basketball and the 27-year-old Kabengele that both sides will reap the benefits from over the next 4 years. Whether it’s with the “Winter Core”, where his gravity as a roll threat and interior scoring make him a focal point of the offense, or with the “Summer Core”, where his overwhelming physicality and hustle fit in well in a supporting role, Kabengele is poised to make an impact in a Canada jersey. Let’s hope it happens soon.

Canadian Roundup: European Season Preview

The majority of HC Nate Mitchell’s offense tonight hinged on the PnR chemistry between Trae Bell Haynes and Mfiondu Kabengele. The two-man action consistently created good looks and put the Dominican Republic defense in rotation, who began sending more help on the Kabengele roll as the game progressed (scoring gravity from a big!). Aside from that, there was also a concerted effort from Mitchell to run quite a bit of offense out of the “Horns” alignment. Given that this was Mitchell’s first game as the HC of the “Winter Core”, with not much prep time in advance with the players, I didn’t expect an advanced offensive playbook, but there were definitely some interesting actions run that raised my eyebrow, especially for their movement shooter Nate Darling (stay tuned, as always, for a deep dive into the film room).

Meanwhile, Canada’s defense continues to be stifling in these AmeriCup Qualifiers, after holding the Dominican Republic to just 43.1% from 2PT FG and 24% from 3PT FG. While there were a handful of possessions where Canada did pick up full court, it wasn’t nearly as often as what Jordi Fernández implemented at the 2024 Paris Olympics or Nate Bjorkgren with the Winter Core against Nicaragua. The less aggressive scheme meant Canada forced just 14 turnovers tonight, compared to an average 26.5 TOV’s forced in Window 1 (albeit against a worse opponent). Something to keep an eye on as we settle into the Nate Mitchell-led “Winter Core” era.

Looking to improve to 4-0 and all but clinch a spot at the 2025 AmeriCup, the SMNT is back in action on Sunday when they take on Mexico at 3:10 PM EST.

Tonight’s Three Stars

First Star: Mfiondu Kabengele

Not much more good things to say. Fantastic debut on the national team.

Second Star: Nate Darling

Despite going 0/7 from 3 tonight, I thought he had some strong moments on the offensive end (especially as a cutter and playing off his shooting gravity) as well as on the defensive end, making rotations off-ball. Given his track record as a 3PT shooter, I’m not worried about the misses from the perimeter. In fact, his ability to impact the game when the shot wasn’t falling is more encouraging. Darling is tracking to be a impactful contributor to the “Winter Core” for years to come.

Third Star: Trae Bell-Haynes

The five TOV’s hurts, but Bell-Haynes as the new leader of the “Winter Core” orchestrated the Canadian offense. Helped the newer players settle in and kept everyone involved with 10 assists. What we’ve come to expect from TBH.

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